My Current Make-Up Regime – Part 2 – Concealer & Powder

Concealer

If you read my post “Concealer Hunt” then you’ll know that I don’t yet have an ideal one and I’m currently using a bit of a mixture depending on how much time I have and what is to hand.

Maybelline Superstay 24hr Concealer – this is what I use most days as it’s so easy – I dab it over my lips as a base, put a little dot at the nose crease to hide redness, and then sweep a bit over my eyelids, again to disguise redness. Once dabbing is done, and this takes only a few seconds, I rub it all in which again is a really quick process.

Bare Minerals ID Foundation – this comes out when some serious spot coverage is needed! I collect the tiniest amount of powder on the end of concealer brush and just dot it onto any blemishes. This is actually a mineral foundation but I have just never got on with mineral foundations, but I haven’t found anything better for disguising those pesky spots that I soooo should be rid of at my age!

L’oreal Touche Magique-  this is another easy to use product with a simple twist of the tube to get a little product onto the inbuilt brush. It’s a really great colour and really does brighten as it should – great for the under eye area and down the sides of the nose. I don’t consider this an essential part of my routine though, and really only do it when I have bags of time (or just bags!) and/or for a special occasion. 

Face Powder

Sad I know, but this is the bit I enjoy the most – you put on that dusting of powder and you have a nice blank and  as perfect as it gets canvas with which to paint on your style of choice :0)

I did have a very favourite and now much missed face powder by Bourjois. It was Bourjois Pastel Teint Pressed Powder but is sadly no more…. . The Pastel Teint was silky and beautifully soft on the skin, matt enough to cover shine but no cakiness at all, and it even smelt wonderful. I did persevere and continue to buy it on Ebay but alas that soon wore thin. So, I’m currently trialling the two below which so far are pretty much identical and a bit blah.

Gosh Pressed Powder  

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder

Any recommendations for a really nice face powder?

Concealer Hunt!

You will notice from my posts that my cosmetic choices are an eclectic mix of both low and high end products, and today’s post concentrates on the lower end of the market as is usually the case at the beginning of  my search for a new product.

Thus far, I have been using a foundation as a concealer, and brilliant as it is, it’s just slightly too thick in consistency so doesn’t blend seamlessly into my actual foundation. I’m using concealer more and more to cover new and not so interesting flaws so this new wonder product I seek needs to be quite a multitasker – I need to cover thread veins around my nose, redness on my eyelids (probably from the eyelash builder I use which is fab and I’ll review at another time), not to mention the odd blemish. Oh and I also want it to cover under eye darkness, I don’t want much from one product eh?!

I bought 4 products as per the picture above, and below is a picture of the colours on my hand – I’ve reviewed them in the same order as the swatches from top to bottom, and here is how I got on:

Gosh Touch Up Concealer in 1 – the little brush is very handy and I like that this comes in a very pale shade that’s not too pink. The first problem I had with this is that it really stung when I put it on my eyelids, not a great start! However, apart from that I did find this a good product for covering redness and dark circles etc, but not good for covering blemishes at all – too thin in consistency.

It lasted really well through the day and certainly brightened the eye area. I won’t be repurchasing this product due to the stinging but I would recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have sensitive skin and doesn’t need the spot coverage.

L’Oreal Infallible Concealer in 01 Vanilla – Creamy and easy to blend but with great staying power. Although it didn’t fade, it did noticeably sink into the creases in my eyelids by lunchtime. For me, the coverage from this is way too light and you need to layer quite a bit to cover any redness or blemishes.

 Maybelline Superstay 24hr Concealer in 2 Beige Clair – you’ll note from the swatch that this is a slightly darker shade than the rest as I bought one colour down from the lightest – my usual MO is to buy the lightest colour possible as all the others are usually too dark, but this looked like it might be a nice “light but not too light” one so I decided to live life on the edge and give it a go :0)

This is my favourite concealer by far but unfortunately there was still a slight stinging on my eyelid area. That aside, it’s the perfect shade with a yellow base but still very light and seems to blend well yet dry fast. It also visibly brightens nicely.

It lasted through the day with no creasing on the eyelid area, and no fading, and it did a good job of covering a few little spots too. I would highly recommend this to anyone that doesn’t have sensitive skin and isn’t looking for an ultra light colour.

Rimmel Stay Matte Dual Concealer in 010 ivory – it’s a cool concept of a concealer with a green coloured inner strip to mask redness and treat spots at the same time. A creamy consistency that’s easy to blend and I’d say a medium coverage. It does stay Matte but it didn’t have great staying power for me and needed a reapplication by mid afternoon. Didn’t overly impress or disappoint either way. I have a bit of a blah feeling about it!

So, the conclusion is….. I will be sticking to my foundation concealer for now while the hunt continues! Oh, and that foundation is Estee Lauder Maximum Cover by the way.

I may try Benefit Boi-ing at some point in the future but am slightly nervous about it being too creamy for my oily skin. If anyone has any recommendations for a good concealer, I’d be delighted to hear about it!